Seaweed Smoothies and YooHoo
by somethingthennumbers
Summary: Both women seize an opportunity to take their relationship to the next step.


It was three o'clock in the afternoon. Jane had done nothing but be at her desk since eight am this morning. Okay eight fifteen but she was ONLY late because Maura had delayed her at the café. Pestering her to take hot yoga with her. They already went to regular yoga. Why did they have to add a second, more uncomfortable form of yoga on top of that? Jane recalled the conversation with amusement.

"Have you ever heard of Bikram Yoga?" Maura had asked, sipping from the to-go coffee mug in her hand and reading over a magazine assumedly about Bikram yoga as they sat at a café table. Jane was eating a bowl of cereal with her coffee. She looked up from the bowl, mouth full of cereal.

"Bikram? Is that not what we do now?"

"Not exactly. What we do now is Hatha yoga. In terms of the positions, Bikram and Hatha are very similar. There is a difference between them though."

Jane noticed that the last part of the doctor's sentence had trailed off. Sensing subterfuge she pressed the woman not that she actually cared about yoga or its differences but it was clear to her detective senses that the woman was hiding something. That and the honey blond was a terrible liar. "What's the difference?" Maura cast a quick glance to her friend. Her eyes were shifty. Jane pressed harder after swallowing another satisfying bite of Lucky Charms. Angela kept a box under the counter just for her and Frankie. "Maur!" she goaded/whined.

The doctor looked up again, this time flustered and quickly rambled off, "Ideally Bikram Yoga is performed in a room with an intentionally elevated temperature."

Jane's spoon froze in mid-journey to her mouth, "How elevated?"

Maura looked away nervously and when her eyes came back to the detective she stated, "One hundred and five degrees."

Jane's eyes widened in both horror and surprise, "No WAY MAURA!" she declared loudly enough that some of the other patrons in the café turned in their direction.

"And forty percent humidity." The doctor slipped in.

The spoon fell back into the bowl with a clang as Jane lost her appetite three bites away from cleaning finishing it. "AND its humid? You've got to be kidding me Maura. Why would you ever think I would do that?"

"For the experience. For the increased mental clarity, emotional stability and muscle flexibility to start with. Plus sweating like that leaches out toxins in your body. Its similar in theory to the Northern European practice of saunas."

Jane just looked at her friend in disbelief and shook her head as she rose to take her mother her bowl and spoon at the counter. "You're crazy you know that? One yoga, at REGULAR TEMPERATURE is enough for me."

The pen Jane was absently holding in her hand while she recalled the conversation that morning went unconsciously into her mouth. She wrapped her lips around it as she allowed her mind to drift into what Maura would look like while practicing yoga in a room heated to one hundred and five degrees. Two poses into the fantasy she felt herself getting flush. Not wanting to call attention to herself in front of her co-workers she shook her head to clear it of the racy thoughts.

"You cold?" Detective Frost asked noticing around the side of his computer monitor that his partner had moved suddenly. He assumed it was a shiver.

"What?" Jane asked not realizing what he was thinking at first. It hit her a beat or two later and she covered. "Oh, yeah I guess." She looked around her desk at the files and scattered papers. It looked like a mess but it was a controlled mess. She knew where everything was and it was laid out in an order that made sense to her. Her brain felt fried from all of the work she'd been doing going over files and evidence from a cold case. She needed a break.

Standing she grabbed her blazer and casually tossed it on pulling her long curly hair out from under the collar in a practiced motion. "I need a break, my brain is nuked. " She stated to no one in particular.

Korsak, a few desks away looked up from his computer monitor over the reading glasses he wore on the end of his nose. "You've been staring at those files and screen for hours."

"Yeah, I'm gonna go stretch my legs." She stated in her typical husky tone before strutting long-legged out of the bullpen.

Frost went back to his typing up of a report and Korsak joked, "Oh there are legs involved, but she's not talking about hers."

"Get off it Korsak. If something was going to happen between those two it would have by now. I really think they might just be friends."

"You're naïve." The older man observed as his gaze returned to his own monitor.

"How can I be naïve? My mom's a lesbian!" Frost pointed out.

Korsak sighed in frustration. He brought his hand up rubbing the bridge of his nose before removing his reading glasses and regarding Frost. "You're too green to remember but we did have a medical examiner before Dr. Isles." He began. Frost did not alter his behavior to indicate that he was listening but Korsak continued, "Do you think Jane spent as much time in the morgue then as she does now?"

"They're friends Korsak."

"No Frost, you and I are friends. If you are in a real bind, you know you can call me. We meet for a beer sometimes. Those girls are NEVER APART. I don't know what's stopping them from going through with it but I guarantee you, they're gay for each other."

The final part of Korsak's statement did give Barry pause. His fingers stopped swiftly typing and his head cocked to the side. "I don't think gay-for-each-other is okay to say."

"They're lesbians for each other?" Korsak offered then shook his head, "No, that doesn't have the same gravitas."

Frost frowned at the man, "By 'gravitas' do you mean gay slur?"

Korsak looked offended, "How can I be a homophobe? I'm talking to you about two women I WANT to get together. I want them to be gay together!"

Frost wasn't even able to continue the ridiculous conversation with his co-worker. Seeing and hearing Vince Korsak yell the phrase, I-want-them-to-be-gay-together in a very loud voice in the middle of the bullpen was enough to reduce Barry to laughter and cause Korsak to dismiss him with a wave and continue working.

Maura's brow was furrowed in concentration as she sifted through the contents of a human stomach spilled into a kidney dish. She heard the sound of the door opening and closing behind her but was too engrossed in her analysis to bother to inquire about the visitor. She was confident they would make their presence known eventually.

"Stomach contents?" came the sweet, husky drawl of Detective Jane Rizzoli.

Maura's own, still-in-tact stomach filled with warmth at the sound of her voice but beyond that she made no physical reaction only offering a distracted, verbal, "Yes."

"You're favorite part." Jane observed the corners of her lips twitching up into a smile. If someone had told her years ago that one day she would be charmed by a woman's enjoyment of sifting through a dead body's stomach contents she would have laughed in their face. "Anything good in there?"

Maura's body relaxed slightly an indication that she wasn't as intently focused on the tasked as she had been moments before. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Then again this isn't a victim of suspected foul play. It's an investigative autopsy I'm doing as a courtesy for Mass General."

"Pro Bono?" Jane asked facetiously.

"A professional courtesy."

Jane loved Maura's all-business side. Though she would never admit it she LOVED to hear the woman speak in medical jargon. Loved hearing her discuss the ins and outs of her professional life even down to what assignments and orders she gave to whom. Maura was the consummate professional and the control and poise she implemented while in that mode always struck Jane as a huge turn on.

She even loved Maura in scrubs. She loved her in scrubs, the disposable medial apron and the face shield. All of it. She thought the woman looked positively gorgeous and infinitely intelligent at the same time. She wanted to walk up behind the doctor, throw her arms around her, and nuzzle and kiss her neck until the M.E breathlessly begged her to stop.

Her mind continued to drift as she posited a series of reactions from the doctor. Her smaller, curvier frame would go momentarily weak in Jane's arms and seek fortification by pressing against the detective's body. Jane would hold her tightly as she regained her strength taking the opportunity to inhale deeply the scent of the doctor's skin and hair.

The brunette shook her head for the second time in the recent past. She HAD to stop fantasizing about seducing Maura over a dead body. It was unseemly. No matter how accustomed she had grown to the presence of dead bodies in her life it was no excuse to treat them with disrespect. It was just that she loved Maura so much, wanted to touch her so badly and had dreamed of touching her for so long now. Her desires were over taking her good sense.

Analysis complete, Maura placed the kidney dish on the examining table next to the body. She then went to her notebook and used a gloved hand to take careful notes.

"Do you have anything to drink down here?" Jane asked suddenly noticing her throat was dry. "Something NOT in the specimen fridge?" She amended.

"Check the other fridge, across the room. I have smoothies in there."

Jane's eyebrow raised. "Smoothies?" she questioned as she walked towards the refrigerator, "I didn't think you liked those because-oh." Jane's sentence came to a halt when she opened the fridge and saw that though they were smoothies as Maura had stated they were green. Not the color of a delightful fruit milkshake. They were the color of grass and probably tasted about the same.

"They're green Maura." Jane stated unhappily.

"Yes they have seaweed, kale and spinach in them. I wouldn't recommend it often but in a pinch they can provide all the essential vitamins and nutrients you would need from a single meal."

"It looks like St. Patrick's day baby puke."

Maura frowned as she removed her face shield, medical smock and rubber gloves to reveal an impeccably appointed outfit. A tight and sharp looking black pencil skirt accompanied by a form-hugging red blouse whose neckline plunged into a pleasing V as it sloped suggestively but not inappropriately toward her cleavage. It took much of Jane's resolve not to follow the V all the way down as the doctor approached her.

"Would you hand me one?" Maura asked reaching a hand out.

Jane leaned down and selected a bottle. Before handing it to Maura she unscrewed it so that the woman wouldn't have to. It was a small gesture but one that did not go unnoticed by the doctor.

"Thanks." She said with a smile as she brought the bottle to her lips. Her gaze never left Jane.

The fact that Maura was keeping steady eye contact with her in that moment might have been hot except for the fact that Jane knew that _as_ she was eyeing her, she was voluntarily consuming a thick concoction of yard trimmings and pond scum. Her face reflected that discomfort.

Maura smiled around the mouth of the smoothie bottle and had to pull away before she was finished because of laughter. Her eyes twinkled and she brought her empty hand to her lips, removing a stray bit of smoothie while she chuckled. "It's okay Jane. It's not hemlock." She quipped.

Jane cleared her throat and her expression before answering, "I don't know what that means but I'm guessing it's yet another beverage consisting of pureed green vegetation that you are arguing is somehow worse than the sludge you are currently drinking."

"Its poison." Maura corrected.

"That's not THAT MUCH worse." Jane argued.

Maura smiled and took another sip of the smoothie before asking, "Did you come down her to raid and then mock my fridge contents or is there something work related I can do for you detective?"

"Nah, my eyes were going cross from all the monitor time I put in. I just needed a break. But don't be surprised if the next time you open that fridge you see a couple of YooHoos too."

"YooHoo?" Maura queried.

"Ohmygod, you've never had a YooHoo?"

"No. Is that some sort of foreign beverage?"

"Oh it's very American." Jane said, "It's a chocolate drink."

"Then technically it would be very South American." Maura began, "The cacoa bean comes from the cacao tree which is native to South America. When it was first discovered it was thought to be…"

From there Maura's words trailed off in Jane's mind. In reality Maura was actively relaying the history of the cacoa bean to her friend, but Jane was too distracted by the sum total of so many perfect components that added up to the woman before her; her lips, the perfect color, the perfect shape, and so soft. Jane imagined them to be immeasurably soft. The perfect timbre of her voice, strong, intelligent but beguilingly feminine. Her clothes hugged her mesmerizing curves and Jane delighted as they moved as Maura's body moved and in accordance with the particular historical fact the Doctor was excitedly relaying at the moment.

Jane didn't realize her own features had curled into a self-satisfied Cheshire grin, arms folded across her chest confidently, she was openly appreciating the woman before her and didn't even realize it.

Maura paused in her careful description of the other plant species that resided in the same genera as Theobroma cacao, commonly called the cocoa bean when she saw the expression Jane Rizzoli had just adopted. If she wasn't mistaken it seemed to be a look of blatant appraisal. The doctor felt her whole body go flush at the suggestion. Jane hadn't even noticed she'd stopped talking. Still unsure that she was seeing what she thought she was seeing, Maura continued,

"The genus Theobroma," she paused again, Jane was still distracted and the object of her distraction really did not seem to be Maura's lecture on taxonomy. Judging from the direction of the detective's gaze it wasn't the content of her words that were being appreciated. Suddenly feeling self conscious, her body tensed and she reflexively looked away from Jane.

In that moment the air had changed, the feeling between them now disjointed. Jane noticed it and reacted immediately, switching her gaze from that of Maura's beautiful being to Maura's face in an attempt to assess the cause and read her friend's reaction, "Sorry Maur, go ahead I want to hear all about the hematoma genius."

"Theobroma genus." Maura corrected.

Jane blushed as her mind suddenly caught up to the moment and fearfully wondered if Maura had caught Jane ogling her. "Yeah, exactly, what other plants are in it?"

Maura waived her hand dismissively, "Oh I know I'm boring you. I need to get back to this autopsy anyway."

"Yeah," Jane agreed looking at her watch, "I should get back upstairs."

Maura nodded and turned to walk back over to the examining table when she felt Jane's strong hand on her bicep catch her and hold her back. A shiver ran through the doctor and she took a single second to steel herself before turning around to face the lanky, dark-featured detective that had long ago captured her heart.

"You NEVER bore me." Jane declared in a voice huskier than normal. Maura's entire body flooded with a sense of engulfing love and warmth. "Inconvenience me sometimes," Jane quipped, eyes twinkling. It snapped Maura from her reverie and made her laugh. Jane finished, "But NEVER bore me. Ever."

She released her insistent but loving grip on the doctor's arm and Maura felt light-headed. "Well," she began trying to compensate by focusing on speaking, "That's so sweet to hear."

Jane took a few steps backward, smiling a charming smile at the medical examiner as she replied, "Keep that to yourself if you don't mind. I have a reputation around here of being full of piss and vinegar, not sugar."

Maura was so charmed by the detective at that moment that she entertained the notion of sauntering up to her, gripping the lapels of her blazer, pulling her close and kissing her so soundly that Jane could never mis-interpret her flirtation ever again. She wanted to convey a thousand thoughts of love into a single press of her lips against Jane's. Softness colliding upon itself in a dizzying exchange of supple perfection. She wanted Jane to swoon at the overwhelming tenderness. But that was too much too soon, instinctually, Maura knew that. She forced her wandering mind in check and chose instead a winning smile, the kind she knew from practiced observation drove men and many women wild.

Jane's heart felt like it was about to burst from her chest cavity with the intensity of its beats. She'd seen that smile before, Jane called it "the fishnet" because all Maura had to do was toss it at a guy and he fell at her feet caught up in her charm, begging for a date. Maura had disapproved of the name but appreciated the analogy. Now, Jane thought, that smile had been tossed at her and she realized she was a big 'ol helpless tuna caught and at the doctor's mercy.

Her brain told her she had to get out of there before she did something she might regret, at work. Mustering a Herculean effort to pivot away from Maura Jane spun on her heel and headed out the door muttering, "Talk to you later." Over her shoulder.

"Drinks at the Dirty Robber tonight?" Maura called after her. It was their normal ritual on Thursdays but also, Maura recognized there had suddenly been an opening created in the circling dance that was she and Jane's "friendship". Like a wormhole in space, it was a possible opportunity. They were more than friends. It was obvious. Obvious to everyone and yet both of them were terrified to take the next step. It was clear that they were closer than friends and yet the idea of actually physically demonstrating that in anyway made both of them nervous. The truth was that they each loved the other so much and so deeply that they would both have preferred for their relationship to idle in a state of perpetual limbo rather than risk the next step and possibly lose it all.

"I gotta see how the rest of the day goes, I'll text ya!" Jane called just before the exam room door shut behind her.

Maura didn't move for a few moments as she mentally went over the encounter to the best of her recollection examining each moment and its significances in an ordered, scientific manner. She concluded that although it did not end quite how she would have liked, the majority of the interaction was overwhelmingly positive and lucrative in terms of the prevalence of data positively confirming Jane Rizzoli's more-than-friendship-feelings for her. Not quite a technical term, Maura conceded to herself, but accurate nonetheless.

Jane was dumbfounded. She wandered onto the elevator and back to the bullpen like a zombie. When she reached her desk her face was still contorted in the same look of astonishment. "You look like someone just spoiled the ending to Lost." Frost commented.

"Did something happen in the morgue Jane?" Korsak asked not getting Barry's reference.

Jane sat down carefully at her desk stretching her long arms out wide to grip the ends of it, bracing herself. "Uh, kind of. More like some new information about a very longstanding mystery." Jane fudged.

Neither Frost nor Korsak had any idea what Jane was talking about and it was four fifteen. They wanted to go home since they hadn't gotten a case. Better to let it be. Jane would bring it up again later if she wanted to talk about it.

Not even bothering to look like she was working, Jane plopped her chin into her hand and leaned on her desk wistfully taking her mind back to the beginning of the encounter she just experienced with Maura. She was eager to replay it all over again so as to confirm what she already had pretty much confirmed and, of course, to just enjoy it again.

She could have taken this time to freak out. She could have decided this was too much too fast, that she didn't know completely about her feelings, that she had a messed up past, that it might affect her ability to be in a real relationship, about the complications of dating someone you work with someone who is your best friend. She could have worried about any one or all of those things at once but instead, and unexpectedly Jane Clementine Rizzoli decided to forgo the neurotic, obsessive analysis and over analysis of her worst fears and traits and instead choose simple delight. Delight at the sudden turn of events. Delight that something she had been nursing for years as an unrequited crush might actually become something real, something beautiful, something she could hold onto.

It was her move now and she knew it. "The fishnet" was Maura's signal. She was interested and she was waiting. A shiver ran through the detective's body and the ramifications of what that meant. Maura had asked her to go out for drinks. Drinks with the promise of something more. She suppressed her growing smile so as not to call attention from her nosey co-workers.

All was quiet in the bullpen for the next twenty minutes or so until the sound of Detective Rizzoli slamming her fist down hard on her metal desk snapped everyone in a hundred foot radius out of their focus. "I GOT IT!" she declared.

"A new lead for that cold case?" Frost asked eagerly.

Jane looked at him quizzically, "What? No! Not that." She declared standing and looking for her keys. "It's close enough to quittin time, I gotta go guys. I gotta run an errand." Jane stated finally locating her keys. She snatched them up, tossed them playfully in air, caught them and sauntered out of the doors like a champ.

"What was that about?" Frost asked.

"When in doubt, assume Maura." Korsak said.

"You're still wrong about that man." Frost countered.

"About my own wives? Yes, every time. About these two? I'm dead on."

Jane had taken her car about six blocks away to a liquor store. She walked with authority into the store and up to the cashier. He was an older man, balding on top with a stained Hawaiian shirt. He noticed the badge on her belt and offered in a very customer-friendly (actually ass-kissy) tone, "How can I help you officer?"

"Detective," Jane corrected and then ordred, "Bottle of Maker's, two shot glasses, and this is going to sound odd but do you have any YooHoo?"

"Actually I do." The man said his expression poker-faced. I got a college sophomore who works here on the weekends, pounds the stuff. It's not for sale though, I'll toss a couple in for free since you're one of our boys in blue."

Jane offered him a winning smile, "Thanks."

The man got everything for her order together, carded her and then took the cash she handed him. Once she got her change she grabbed the brown paper bag with her purchases inside and headed out. "Thanks again!"

It was after five. Maura had finished the autopsy and was in her office typing up her notes. She hadn't bothered to turn any lights on as she tried to concentrate on her task and the glowing laptop monitor in front of her. It was hard though. Jane was all she could think about. What on earth had just happened earlier? With no warning or apparent catalyst she and Jane had taken a huge step in the expression of their relationship.

Maura had been nursing a crush on the detective for almost a year now but she had resolved to do nothing about it unless she got some kind of unmistakable cue from Jane. Suddenly today, it had appeared or it seemed to have appeared and without even stopping to think about it Maura had reciprocated tossing Jane "the fishnet".

She paused in her transcription and shook her head, what had she been thinking? "The fishnet"? Jane knew exactly what that move was and what it meant! Jane was the one who coined the term after she had seen Maura use it on countless men when they were out together. In addition, Maura was almost absolutely certain that Jane had welcomed the move. It was all happening so fast. Maura smiled and couldn't help but find amusement in the fact that she had a sense of things moving swiftly when technically nothing had actually happened yet.

It was a mood shift, a paradigm change. It was in the air, things were different. She didn't know how or when proof would visually manifest but they WERE different. The doctor felt a simultaneous sense of excitement and dread at the infinite scenarios that were yet possible.

"You know if you stare at that screen in the dark like that for too long you'll go temporarily blind." Jane's thick, deep voice called to Maura from the office doorway.

The sound startled the honey-blond, "Oh Jane! I didn't hear you come in." she replied quickly putting down the glasses in her hand and unconsciously smoothing her hair and dress. Jane was leaning against the doorframe confidently, in a way that reminded Maura of a female Marlon Brando. All the same assurance and power encased within a perfect female form. The doctor noticed she had a sizeable brown paper bag in her hand.

"May I ask what is in the bag?" Maura was grateful to have a mundane question to ask Jane at that moment.

The detective pushed herself off of the door frame and sauntered over to the Doctor's desk. As she came closer Maura could see she had a bottle of her GreenVolve Smoothie in her other hand as well. Jane set both the bag and the smoothie on Maura's desk without taking her eyes off of the doctor.

"I know you said you wanted to get drinks at the Robber but I have a better idea." Jane said.

Maura's body was flooded with warmth as she looked into Jane's eyes. The detective's earthen eyes were getting darker by the minute, swirling with a twinkling, suggestive promise. Jane opened the brown paper bag and first pulled out a bottle of Maker's Mark setting it down on the table in front of a wide-eyed Maura. Quickly after that she produced two shotglasses with liquor store price tags still stuck to the bottom. She set those in front of the bottle.

"So you'd rather have drinks here instead?" Maura asked, her pleased smile impossible to hide.

Jane nodded wordlessly but her own grin indicated there was still something more. She reached back into the bag and pulled out a bottle of YooHoo. Maura's eyes narrowed as she beheld the campy, artificial beverage. Jane moved the seaweed smoothie next to the Yoohoo.

"I don't think any of this will mix Jane." Maura observed with a concerned frown.

Jane chuckled. It was a devious chuckle that came out rich and thick like a heavy coat of honey and it served to completely tantalize Maura. She was enraptured in this woman and her every move. "We're not going to mix them, exactly."

She stood up and walked deliberately behind the desk to face the seated Maura before turning so that she could sit casually on the surface. She was close to the doctor, alluringly close but just far enough away to provide the space needed for this little ritual. Leaning back, she grabbed the shot glasses and placed on in front of Maura and one in front herself.

Next she grabbed the YooHoo, shook it, unscrewed the cap and poured a small amount into Maura's glass. She did the same with the smoothie into her own. When she was putting the cap back on the smoothie she launched into an explanation that was so laced with tonal suggestion that Maura felt her whole body begin to tingle just at Jane's husky words. "I figured it made the most sense if you tried mine," the detective paused and gently pushed the YouHoo closer to Maura, "And I, tried yours." Jane capped the thickly suggestive statement by picking up her shot of green smoothie and downing it like a champ.

Maura was overwhelmed and intensely turned on but she didn't want to change anything that was happening. Jane's seduction was exquisite. She grabbed the shot of YooHoo and downed it slamming the glass down on the table once empty. The over-processed taste of artificial ingredients hit her palate and she winced.

Jane did the same when the sudden acrid taste of lawn trimmings hit her tongue. "Ugh! God, how can you drink that stuff? It tastes like moss!" Jane exclaimed.

Maura was making a face as well and countered, "Well yours doesn't taste much better. It tastes like what comes out of the drainage spout at the Monsanto Corporation."

The comment surprised Jane and she laughed a deeply. Maura's face lit up at the woman's response and she joined in laughing some herself.

Still watching the doctor unabashedly Jane offered a satisfied smile as she leaned over gripping both shot glasses and proceeded to switch them around on the table so that the seaweed one was now in front of Maura and the YooHoo one in front of her. "The next shot," Jane began as she grabbed the whiskey bottle.

Nothing was said out loud between them as Maura watched the dark-haired woman open the bottle. Jane pulled the red wax covered tab creating an open seam all around the bottle before unscrewing the cap. She knew the other woman was watching her and it only served to drive her in the task. She was in charge of this seduction and Maura, surprisingly, was letting it occur without a single pause for questioning, clarification or intellectual contribution. If Jane had to guess, she would have attributed it to the doctor being nervous. Surely such a beautiful, cultured and refined woman as Dr. Maura Isles wasn't intimidated by HER? Intrigued maybe? Either way, Jane was going to take advantage of the moment's sudden power dynamic.

She poured a shot into Maura's glass and into her own, threw the cap back on the bottle and set it down. Maura shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she looked at the brimming amber contents. "So now we're just going to do whiskey shots in my office?" She queried.

There it was. Jane knew the woman was physically incapable of holding back her questions for long. But the detective was patient with her. In fact, Maura's questions, her inherent unquenchable curiosity was one of the main things she adored about her.

Picking up her shot, Jane indicated with a nod that Maura should do the same. She reached out and clinked their glasses offering a toast, "To us Maura, to our friendship and all that we've endured."

Maura smiled at the simple eloquence of the toast. Jane could be so well spoken when she chose. Though her normal, informal manner of speaking was what Maura loved best. "Indeed." She confirmed before following the detective's lead and quickly downing the shot. It burned in her throat and though she tried to hide it she was not successful. Slowly putting the glass back down on the table Jane filled it again quickly.

"Another?" Maura asked nervously.

Jane's dark eyes were swirling as they gazed at her. There was something there, just beyond what Maura could read, a plan. Jane was going somewhere with this. "Your turn Maur. You do a toast. I assume you took a class in that at some point at your fancy boarding school."

Blushing, the doctor picked up the glass. "We did take a manners and etiquette class but it was when we were twelve so no alcohol or toasting allowed."

"Still, I think you can come up with something appropriate." Jane declared holding her own glass in her hand expectantly. In truth she was in no rush. Keeping Maura in the dark in this moment, watching her respond to her requests and instructions despite having no knowledge of where it was leading to made Jane feel light headed with the sense of power. Not a dominating or abusive sense of power. More of a marveling at the idea that this beautiful, intelligent, strong woman in front of her would be interested in entertaining any of her plans or behavior. What did she ever do to deserve such a woman in her life? All of those thoughts and more filled the detective as she waited for the doctor to formulate a toast.

Maura cleared her throat and raised her glass, "Okay," she began, "Here goes," taking another, adorable breath, she began, "Thank you for being you Jane Rizzoli. You taught me friendship, loyalty and love."

The detective couldn't help it when her broad smile at the mention of her name in the toast gave way to an adorable, humble chuckle before she nodded and said, "How do I NOT drink to that?"

This time Maura downed her shot first, happy to invest herself in that activity so she didn't have to say anything more on her toast which had left her feeling exposed as if she'd suddenly shouted out how much she was in love with the woman across from her.

They both put their glasses down and Jane reached for the bottle again. Maura objected, "Again Jane? Three? I don't know if I can do it. My stomach is already very warm and I'm starting to feel the effects."

Jane ignored her and continued to pour as she spoke. "No, Maura we HAVE to do one more."

"I don't think I want to get completely intoxicated and spend the night fighting for sleeping space with you on my little office couch." The medical examiner pointed out.

"You don't get it." Jane stated finishing the pour and this time screwing the cap back securely on the bottle. "I need one more and that means so do you."

"What Jane? Did something happen? Are you upset? Is that why you are drinking?" Maura's green eyes darkened with concern and she moved to rise and examine Jane more closely. Jane's long arm and hand shot out and stopped her.

"No, Maur, listen to me. I need one more shot and if you just give me a moment, you'll see why."

"I don't think I need one, can't you just-" Jane cut her off again.

"No, you're killing me Maura just do the shot, no toast this time, ready? One, two, three!" Jane didn't want to give the doctor any more time to object. She downed her own shot and slammed the glass on the table. Maura was more hesitant until Jane used the tips of her fingers to gently guide the glass up to her lips. Wanting to get it over with Maura downed the shot.

The liquid rushed down her throat, not nearly burning as much as the first time and pooled in her stomach making her feel even lighter than she had the minute before. She placed the glass down and closed her eyes for a moment making sure she felt alright before opening them again. When she did she saw Jane watching her but this time with a twinge of fear in her previously confident brown eyes.

"What is it Jane?" she asked her concern coming back.

Jane closed her eyes briefly, ran her slender fingers through her thick, curly locks and took a deep steadying breath before she spoke, "I needed another shot Maura because otherwise I wouldn't have had the guts to do this."

Maura watched as the detective took a single step toward her, closing the distance between them and reaching out her hands to quickly grip the back of the doctor's perfect neck in a gentle but insistent grip as she brought her lips against Maura's. They connected in an instant, softness pressing against softness and Maura moaned. The feeling combined with the large amount of high proof alcohol in her system were causing her to lose control of her physical response to this gorgeous, powerful woman.

Their bodies came together as Maura reached out for Jane her hands snaking around the lanky woman's neck and into her hair. Jane let out a small moan of her own as she kissed her harder, deeper and with more passion than she'd ever experienced in her life. Both women would swear later that there was a measurable electric current racing through them both. Maura would actually attempt to calculate the volts.

When the kiss finally ended and they pulled apart breathlessly they kept their grip on the other. Maura's arms around Jane's neck and Jane's hands, having meandered south, gripping shapely hips. The medical examiner looked up at the detective, the woman she'd been dreaming about kissing for so long now finally with her, in her arms. Jane looked down at Maura and didn't even notice that she was practically growling with desire as she gazed at her.

"Sorry," her voice ground out the words like it was crushing gravel, "I needed some liquid courage before I took that kind of chance on making my dreams come true." She blushed at the words because she meant them.

Maura's manicured hand lightly played with the fine hairs on the back of her love's neck as she spoke in a more airy, swooning tone. "Don't apologize. Now I understand." She lunged forward quickly and placed a few loving pecks on the detective's lips before a smile spread across the honey-blond's face that she couldn't possibly remove.

Jane felt so completely happy. Her hands rubbed Maura's sides lightly as she stated,"For the record, I don't care how healthy it is, I'm never drinking that thick green sludge ever again."

"And I'm not ever letting that sugary, failed-chemistry-experiment near MY lips ever again." Maura tossed back just as emphatically.

"Fair enough," Jane said with approval as she moved to stand beside the woman and wrap and arm around her waist. Picking up her cue Maura realized that now, it was time to go. She pivoted letting the detective snake an arm around her waist as she grabbed her purse from its perch on her desk.

"As long as you still let ME near your lips, I don't think we'll have a problem." Jane added playfully as they headed toward the door of Maura's office. "Where do you want to go now Beautiful?" Jane asked, "The Robber? I'm buying."

Maura laughed a perfect, shimmering laugh that fell around the detective like a warm spring rain before stating in a tone that left nothing up for discussion, "My place."

"Perfect." Jane declared with a smile firmly plastered across her face that only came off when Maura kissed it off later that night.

The End


End file.
